Mumbai, Nov 28 (NationPress) The Maharashtra Congress has asserted that the Election Commission of India (ECI) interfered with the electoral processes during the recent state Assembly elections, which led to the defeat of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), on Thursday.

Amid heightened calls for a return to ballot paper voting, state Congress President Nana F. Patole referred to the polling data and expressed serious concerns about the sudden increase in voter turnout within a single day.

According to the ECI's statistics, the voter turnout was recorded at 58.22 percent by 5 p.m. on November 20 (election day), which astonishingly surged to 65.02 percent by 11.30 p.m. that same night. The following morning, the turnout figure skyrocketed to 66.05 percent on November 21.

"This resulted in a total increase of 7.83 percent in voting, raising significant concerns," Patole informed reporters.

He claimed that this jump of 7.83 percent in merely one day translated to nearly 76 lakh votes and questioned how the voting percentage could have risen so dramatically in just 24 hours, especially since the ECI provides updates every two hours.

"This indicates that the ECI has deprived the people's votes. We deliberated this extensively in our meeting today. We will pursue legal actions and initiate mass movements," declared Patole.

The party meeting featured prominent leaders such as CWC Member and state Working President M. Arif Naseem Khan, Vice-President Nana Gawande, and former ministers Vijay Balasaheb Thorat, K.C. Padavi, Yashomati Thakur, Vishwajeet Kadam, alongside MLC Bhai Jagtap and other notable figures.

Critiquing the ECI's inefficacy, given the substantial discrepancies in the voting data, Patole noted that, considering the significant voter turnout increase post 5 p.m. on November 20, there should have been long queues outside polling stations.

"We demand that the ECI provide evidence of such queues, release CCTV footage from the polling booths, and share other details from November 20," Patole remarked, questioning why the ECI did not hold the usual media briefing after the voting that day.

He pointed out that experts from various sectors nationwide have raised suspicions regarding the sudden voter turnout increase, casting serious doubts on the ECI's integrity and insisting that the poll body must address the concerns of political parties, candidates, experts, and the public.

Patole emphasized that the Congress is not raising this issue merely due to its defeat, but rather to safeguard democracy and the Constitution, accusing the ECI of undermining both by allegedly collaborating with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

All MVA allies, including the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, General Secretary Jitendra Awhad, state President Jayant R. Patil, and leaders from Shiv Sena (UBT) such as Sanjay Raut, Sushma Andhare, and Priyanka Chaturvedi, have raised alarms over the alleged involvement of EVMs in the 'totally unexpected' election results.

Other MVA partners, including the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Peasants & Workers Party, and several other opposition parties such as Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, and Omprakash B. alias Bachhu Kadu’s Prahar Janshakti Party have also voiced their concerns against the EVMs, with many leaders even calling for a re-election in the state.